Canon Standard Telephoto Lenses

Canon groups standard telephoto lenses with medium telephoto lenses. According to them standard telephoto lenses will give the viewer a "more natural angle of view and perspective". These lenses will provide you with the image "closest to how your eye perceives the subject." These include all 50mm lenses, like the EF 50mm f/1.2L USM, EF 50mm f/1.8 II and EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. The reason why these lenses actually provide you with an image closest to how your eye perceives the subject has to do with the focal length. By experience and convention this can be achieved by a 50mm focal length lens.

So these lenses should actually not give you any magnification, as should be expected from telephoto lenses. Images will not appear any nearer as seen by the naked eye. Medium telephoto lenses, on the other hand, vary from 85-100mm focal length and will provide magnification as compared to the basis of 50mm to which all telephoto lenses are compared. They include lenses like the EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM and the EF 100mm f/2 USM.